THE FALL OF MAN
“Sin is the disease, and misery is the pain; man is born a sinner, and from that fall, he cannot heal himself.” (Thomas Watson)
The corruption of our nature is our ruin. Man fell from God’s favour, and he is now a stranger to righteousness; he cannot make himself acceptable before God.” (Richard Sibbes)
“Man, by his fall, lost the image of God, and became captive to sin. He is dead in trespasses and sins, and cannot recover himself without the Spirit of God.” (William Perkins)
SIN
“Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” (John Owen 1616–1683)
“Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” (Thomas Watson 1620–1686)
“Sin will make the promise useless, or the promise will make sin useless.” (Thomas Brooks 1608–1680))
“There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.” (Richard Sibbes 1577–1635)
“Sin is worse than suffering, because suffering only hurts the body, but sin wounds the soul.” (Jeremiah Burroughs 1599–1646)
“Sin is so sweet in the committing, but so bitter in the reckoning.” (William Gurnall (1616–1679)
“Sin and hell are married unless repentance proclaims the divorce.” John Bunyan (1628–1688)
“Sin is the greatest evil, because it strikes at God himself.” Thomas Goodwin (1600–1680)
“The human heart is a perpetual factory of idols.” John Calvin (1509–1564)
“Original sin is not merely a lack of righteousness, but a positive inclination to evil.” Francis Turretin (1623–1687)
“Sin is a murderer; it seeks to destroy the soul.” (C.H Spurgeon 1834-1892)
“Sin is not a substance but a power, not a being but a corruption of being.” Louis Berkhof (1873–1957)
“Sin is cosmic treason. It is the creature’s defiance of the Creator.” R.C. Sproul (1939–2017)
“The essence of sin is substituting oneself for God.” J.I. Packer (1926–2020)
“The ultimate proof of the sinfulness of man is his refusal to accept the biblical teaching about sin.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981)
HOLINESS OF GOD
“Holiness is the beauty of God’s attributes. It is the attribute upon which God sets the crown.” (Thomas Watson)
“Holiness is not merely one attribute among many. It is the attribute that defines God’s very being.” (R.C Sproul)
“As God is infinite in goodness, so He is infinite in holiness. He cannot be less holy than He is good.” (Stephen Charnock)
The Sovereignty of God
“Nothing takes place without the will of God; He disposes all things according to His sovereign counsel.” (John Calvin)
“God’s sovereignty is His absolute right to do all things according to His own good pleasure.” (Thomas Watson)
“God does not merely foresee events; He ordains them, yet without violence to the will of the creature.” (Francis Turretin)
The Justice of God
“God’s justice is not a quality added to His will, but His will itself acting in conformity with His holiness.” (Francis Turretin)
“God’s righteousness shines most brightly in the punishment of sin and in the justification of sinners through Christ.” (John Calvin)
“Justice is essential to God; He would cease to be God if He ceased to be just.” (Thomas Boston)
The Mercy and Grace of God
“God’s mercy is His inclination to pity and help the miserable.” (Thomas Watson)
“Grace finds us enemies and makes us sons; it finds us condemned and makes us justified.” (John Flavel)
“There is no love so great and so wonderful as that of God to sinful men.” (Jonathan Edwards)
The Wisdom of God
“God’s wisdom is the perfect agreement between His knowledge and His will.” (Herman Bavinck)
Moral Law of God (Ten Commandments)
“The law of God is the transcript of His holy character.” — Charles Hodge
“The law is not sin, but it discovers sin.” — Martin Luther
“God’s law is holy, just, and good because God Himself is holy, just, and good.” — Thomas Watson
“The law is the expression of the will of God for His creatures.” — John Calvin
Moral Law Convicts Sin
“The law shows us our sin, but gives us no remedy.” — Martin Luther
“The law is a glass to show us our spots, but not a fountain to wash them away.” — Thomas Watson
“By the law is the knowledge of sin.” — The Apostle Paul (Romans 3:20) “The law wounds, that grace may heal.” — Augustine
The Law and the Gospel
“The law commands, but gives no power; the gospel gives power and commands nothing.” — John Bunyan
“The law drives us to Christ, and Christ sends us back to the law.” — Samuel Bolton
“The law humbles, the gospel exalts.” — John Flavel
“To mix law and gospel is to destroy both.” — J. C. Ryle
The Law as a rule of life for the Believers
“The law is no longer a terror to believers, but a delight.” — John Calvin
“Though we are not under the law as a covenant, we are under it as a rule.” — Samuel Bolton
“Christ does not free us from obedience, but from condemnation.” — Thomas Boston
Psalm 119:97 — “Oh how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”
Other Quotes on the Moral Law
“Either the law will break you, or Christ will.” — Anonymous (Puritan sentiment)
“He that does not know the law cannot know grace.” — John Newton
“The law without Christ is terror; Christ without the law is presumption.”
The law shows the disease; the gospel brings the cure.”
“The law convicts; grace converts.”
“The law condemns the sinner; Christ saves the sinner.”
The law reveals our need; Christ meets our need.”
OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST
Christ was obedient, not only in doing the will of God, but in suffering it. His obedience was carried on through the whole course of his life, and finished upon the cross.” (Thomas Watson)
“Love made Christ obey, and obedience made Him die; and in dying He satisfied justice for sinners.” (Samuel Rutherford)
“He took the cup of suffering from the Father’s hand, and drank it to its dregs in obedience to His will.” (C.H. Spurgeon)
SALVATION
“It is not the will of man that brings about his own salvation, but the mercy of God that raises the dead to life.” (John Owen)
“Salvation is of the Lord; the soul that would be saved must come by God’s drawing, not its own running.”
“The soul that Christ has redeemed may be troubled, but never forsaken; the believer may fear, but cannot perish.”(Thomas Watson)
“The sinner’s recovery from sin is not of himself, but of God; it is God who makes him willing in the day of His power.” (Jonathan Edwards)
“All the righteousness that saves us is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us; our own works are but filthy rags.” (Richard Baxter)
“He that believes in Christ is no more to be judged for sin, but accepted freely for His sake, as though he had never offended.” (John Flavel)
“The work of grace in a soul is to change it from one nature to another; the dead heart becomes alive, the blind see, and the captive is set free.” (John Bunyan)
GRACE
“Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve, and withholding from us what we do deserve.” (R.C Sproul)
“Grace is the love of God to the undeserving, manifested in the salvation of sinners.” (J.I Packer)
“It is grace alone that awakens the soul to love God, and not any natural inclination or worthiness of man.” (Jonathan Edwards)
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. Nothing we do can earn it; everything we are comes from Him.” (John MacArthur)
“Grace is free favor; it is the sweet water that flows from Christ to thirsty sinners.” (Thomas Watson)
“Grace is not given because of our prayers or tears, but because God has purposed to save a people for Himself.” (Samuel Rutherford)
“Where grace reigns, sin is dethroned, and the soul grows up into the image of Christ.” (Thomas Goodwin)
A soul that rests on its own righteousness will perish; a soul that trusts in grace shall never be ashamed.” (Richard Baxter)
“Our first breath, our last breath, and every breath in between is sustained by the unmerited grace of God.” (John Owen)